Boiler refilling system



E w. MILLER BOILER REFILLING SYSTEM I Filed Sept. 2,194]

March 30, 1943.

INVENTOR.

A BY

Patented Mar. 30, 1943 BOILER REFILLING SYSTEM Frank W. Miller, Chicago,Ill., assignor to Franclare Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation ofIllinois Application September 2, 1941, Serial No. 409,245

3 Claims. 122 396) This invention relates to the refilling of boilerswith hot water, the system here disclosed for that purpose beingparticularly designed for the refilling of locomotive boilers, althoughthe principles of my invention are equally capable of employment for therefilling of stationary boilers.

When it becomes necessary to empty a loco-- motive boiler for thepurpose of washing it out or of making repairs thereon or both, themodern practice is to blow otT and separate the steam and water from theboiler, utilize the water for wash-out purposes and use the steam forheating fresh Water for refilling purposes. The blowing ofi and washingout operations and the apparatus by which they are carried out are wellto be treated is made. The number of such drops in any particularinstallation depends upon the number of stalls intended to be employedfor blowing ofi, washing out and refilling purposes.

In order to produce in a boiler being refilled a steam pressuresufficient for propulsion. of the locomotive as soon as a Working waterlevel has been attained in the boiler, I have previously devised, asdisclosed in my pending application Serial No. 166,509, filed September30, 1937., a method of super-heating the refill water relatively to thepressure existing in the boiler so that a portion of the refill waterwhen released into the boiler immediately flashes into steam, whichresults in an accumulation of steam pressure in the boilersimultaneously with the rise in water level therein. To accomplish thispurpose, my prior invention contemplated the installation of a waterheating unit in the blow-off and refill drop at each stall to be usedfor blowing oil and refilling operations.

The primary purpose of my present invention is to eliminate the largenumber of refill water heating units previously employed, therebyreducing the original cost of manufacture and installation andeliminating obstructions in the roundhouse by the employment of suitableheating units which are located remote from the roundhouse stalls andnear the refill storage tank, so as to deliver heated water to therefill line from which it may be delivered to a locomotive in any stallthrough a simple pipe drop adapted to be connected to a boiler.

In accordance with my invention, the refill water is heated with livesteam derived from the powerxboilers, where it can be generated muchmore economically than in a locomotive boiler. Since my presentinvention enables any number of locomotive boilers to be simultaneouslyrefilled, the possibility arises that the boiler crews might attempt asimultaneous refilling of so many boilers that a detrimentally excessiveload would be imposed upon the power boilers.

Another purpose of my present invention is to protect the power boilersagainst reduction in steam pressure below a predetermined minimum byemploying in the steam supply line between the boilers and my waterheating units a pressure controlled valve which, in the event ofreduction of the steam supply pressure to a predeterminedminimum, willclose, leaving only a reduced by-pass for the delivery of steam to theheating units.

For the purpose of facilitating an understanding of my invention, I haveillustrated onthe accompanying drawing a preferred embodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a schematic view of my novel system;-

and

a Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view through one of the waterheating units.

On'the drawing, reference character 5 indicates'a refill water storagetank in which is stored fresh refill water which has been heated byblown off steam from the locomotive boilers and by exhaust steam fromthe power boilers, and some times, if necessary, by a small amount oilive steam, so that the temperature of the water stored in the tank isin the neighborhood of 200 F. From this tank the water is delivered'by apump 6, which is adapted to deliver the water under .a pressure greaterthan that existing in the boiler being refilled, to the refill line 1which extends into the roundhouse where it is equipped adjacent thevarious locomotive stalls with simple pipe drops 8 equipped withshut-off valves 9 and the usual hose and couplings by which connectionsare made to the boilers, The tracks upon which the locomotives stand inthe stalls are indicated by reference character IL.

A valve l2, operable by a pull chain I3, is interposed in the refillline, so that, ifdesirable, this valve may be left open, permittingwater to, be delivered at storage tank temperature directly to the.roundhouse drops. In such instances,

however, the refill water will not be superheated or at a temperatureadequate for instantaneous steam generation in the boiler. To superheatthe water to a temperature at which it will partly flash into steam whenreleased into the boiler, I employ any desired number, depending uponthe size of the installation, of water heating units designatedgenerally by reference character l4.

Referring to Fig. 2, it will be observed that each of these unitsconsists of a tubular casing IS in which is mounted a Venturi tube IS. Asteam space I! above the venturi is in direct communication with themouth of the venturi, and a water delivery nozzle I8 projecting into thesteam space is positioned to discharge coaxially into the venturi. Apipe I!) connected with the refill line forwardly of the valve l2 andprovided with a shut-off valve 2| is connected by branches 22 with theupper ends 23 of the heating units, so that the water under pressure ofthe pump 6 is discharged by the nozzles I8 into the venturis l6. Valves23 afford means for regulating the water supplied to the heating unitsand for completely shutting off either unit in the event that theservices of only one heating unit should be required.

The heat units for superheating the refill water are derived from livesteam supplied from the power boilers of the plant through a steamsupply line 24 equipped with a shut-off valve 25.

Branches 25 deliver steam from this line to the steam spaces ll of theheating units. The steam supplied to these spaces may be regulated orshut off, if desirable, by means of the valves 21. The hot water heatedby the steam is returned from the heating units to the refill linerearwardly of the valve l2 through the connections 28 preferablyequipped with valves 29.

In the steam supply line 24 is interposed a pressure control valve 3|designed to close when the steam pressure in the supply line drops to apredetermined minimum. The purpose of this valve is, as previouslyindicated, to protect the power boilers against reduction in steampressure to a point where insufficient power is available to operate theshop machinery. For instance, if this valve be set for '75 poundspressure, it will remain open for full delivery of steam .to the heatingunits so long as the power boiler pressure exceeds 75 pounds, but,should such pressure fall below '75 pounds, valve 3| will close to shutoff steam delivery therethrough. A by-pass 32' of small size, such, forinstance, as half inch pipe, is adapted to deliver some steam to theunits, even when valve 3| is closed, and even this amount may berestricted by the setting of a regulating valve 33, if desired. In thismanner the power boilers are protected against an excessive steam drainresulting from attempting to simultaneously refill too many boilers. Theclosing of valve 3l'wi1l, of course, reduce the heating capacity of theheat units, with the result that the delivered refill water will bebelow the desired temperature. This condition, however, will soon cometo the atten tion of the boiler crews and will be rectified by shuttingoff the refill water to some of the boilers. In the normal operation ofmy improved system, the valve I2 will be closed, so that the waterdelivered by pump 6 will all be passed through the heating units beforefinal delivery to the roundhouse drops. The water flow to each unit maybe regulated by the setting of valves 23 and the steam supplied to theunits may be similarly regulated by the setting of the valves 21. Thewater under pressure greater than that existing in the boiler or boilersbeing refilled will be superheated in the heating units to a temperaturewhere it will partially flash into steam upon bein released into theboilers. Should the demand upon the system be so great as to exceed thegenerating capacity of the power boilers, lowering of the power boilerpressure below a predetermined minimum will be automatically preventedby the pressure controlled valve 3|.

It should be apparent from the foregoing that by the employment ofheating units in proximity to the refill tank, the necessity ofequipping each roundhouse drop with a heating unit is obviated and that,by the employment of a suitable number of heating units connected in themanner disclosed, a method of regulation and control is afforded bywhich the refill line may be supplied with refill water at any desiredtemperature.

The structural details involved in the system may be varied withinconsiderable limits without departing from the scope of my invention asdefined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A system for supplying heated water at controlled temperaturescomprising a water supply line, a valve therein, means for deliveringwater to be heated to said line, a plurality of heaters connected toreceive water from said line forwardly of said valve and to return thewater heated thereby into said line rearwardly of said valve, meanswhereby the quantity of water received by each of said heaters may beregulated, a line connected to each of said heaters for supplyingheating medium thereto, means whereby the quantity of heating mediumsupplied to each heater may be regulated, and means so responsive to apredetermined pressure drop in said steam supply line as to restrict thesteam fiow through the steam supply line to a predetermined minimum.

2. A system for supplying heated water at controlled temperaturesccmprising a water supply line, a plurality of water heaters connectedto receive water from said line, means for regulating the amount ofwater delivered to each heater, a steam supply line connected to each ofsaid heaters, means for regulating the amount of steam delivered to eachheater, means so responsive to a predetermined pressure drop in saidsteam supply line as to restrict the steam flow through the steam supplyline to a predetermined minimum, and means for delivering to a point ofuse the water heated by said heaters.

3. A boiler refilling system comprising a refill water storage tank, arefill line, a plurality of refill drops connected to said line, a pumpconnected to deliver water under a pressure greater than the pressure ofthe boiler being filled to said refill line, a valve in said line, aplurality of water heating units connected to said line ahead of saidvalves each consisting of a water delivery nozzle through which waterfrom said line is delivered, a Venturi tube into which said nozzledelivers, and a steam space surrounding said nozzle and communicatingwith the mouth of said venturi, means for regulating the delivery ofwater from said line to each of said nozzles, a steam supply line, aconnection between said steam supply line and each of said steam spaces,means for regulating the delivery of steam from said supply line to eachof said spaces, and means so responsive to a predetermined pressure dropin said steam supply line as to restrict the steam flow through thesteam supply line to a predetermined minimum.

FRANK W. MILLER.

